Sunday 12 September 2010

A sample of complaints about GLOBAL VISAS

GLOBAL VISAS

Posted: 2009-02-12 by  avoidGlobalVisas
unprofessional, inexpert, disorganized, slow,
Complaint Rating:  89 % with 19 votes
Company information:
Global Visas
United Kingdom
globalvisas.com

Acc. to Alexa, Global Visas has the most traffic, & it is supposedly one of the largest, if not THE largest visa immigration services in the world. I researched reviews online, & only found a few negative comments--all from India--& 1 or 2 positive comments. The Global Visas account manager was friendly & knowledgeable when I called their London office. So I hired them to help me sort out getting a Highly Skilled Worker (HSMP) visa to the UK.

UNFORTUNATELY, Global Visas sr. case manager, Katarzyna Pasternyk, is disorganized, slow, & lacks any sort of empathy. She is unable to provide a roadmap of the application process, & two weeks after working with her, she has yet to tell me about the actual interview.

She asks for letters from banks, employers & my landlord, but she does not give any letter samples or explain--what information they should contain, who needs to sign it, etc. The client must figure that out all on their own. I believe she tries hard, but her advice is confusing. In the last 2 weeks, I have spent about 50 hours on trying to contact Global Visas, trying to speak with Global Visas case manager Katarzyna, trying to understand what she is saying, trying to understand what I need & what the next steps are.

I receive is a smattering of unintelligible comments written among my original questions (often without formatting that distinguishes where my email ends & Global Visas' comments begin).

It's a simple question of knowing how to manage a project. Any event that requires a longer time to complete should be given adequate lead time so that all elements come together at the same completion date. Unfortunately, Global Visas sr. case manager Katarzyna Pasternak does not know how to do this. Example: I have bank accounts in the US, but I do not live in the US. After 1 1/2 weeks of consultation (I gave all my information on the first day), I was finally told that online bank statements were not acceptable, & that the bank statements needed to be original paper bank statements.

My bank in the US is Citibank. To request a paper bank statement requires 2-3 weeks. They will mail it to your US address, but not your international one. You need to have someone receive it & re-send it to you. If I had known that from the beginning, I could have started right away on getting it. Better yet, Global Visas senior case manager Katarzyna Pasternyk should have been the one to advise me to do that. I am the client. Katarzyna’s response? Oh, just get the local branch to give it to you. They can’t? Oh, then ask them to stamp your printout of your online bank statement. She obviously doesn’t know that banks run independently of each other, country to country.

I decided to email a formal complaint & requested a new case manager. I was told by Katarzyna Pasternyk's supervisor, Adrian Baxter, that he would only review my issue after I had filed a formal written complaint. I sent him a longer, more detailed complaint in a Word doc.

Response from Adrian Baxter of Global Visas:
"You hired Global Visas to assist you with your Tier 1 General application. We have provided you with advice & assistance in line with Home Office guidelines. ...I will not be able to reassign your case to a new Case Manager. I look forward to your response advising of how you wish to proceed." He did not offer any options.

I replied to his email & requested to speak by phone. I WOULD go to his office, but I am not in London. He did not answer his phone any of the times I have called him, nor has he ever returned my voice mail. I have been waiting nearly a week for some response.

It is possible that there are some really great people who work there. In fact, I'm sure of it, as I have never seen a company where there employees were all disagreeable. However, if you have the misfortune of getting an inexpert, disorganized, slow case manager at Global Visas, you will not have a proper channel to resolve your complaint.
 Comments United Kingdom Lawyers and Attorneys
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  2009-02-23 by   anon  +1 Votes
Thanks for the feedback! I will not be hiring Global Visas!
  2009-03-10 by   ruchin  -2 Votes
I find very starge kind of remarks however our experiance with Global Visas is quite plesent and we were delivered what we were assured. I paid my 100% money in 30 days by credit card and my process took about 3 months but global visas in India was in my constant touch.

I find global visas quite open & upfront in communication and I paid total Rs. 89, 000 in two lots Rs 24, 000 at sign-up and balance payment was again transected throught the same card details but I have no regret rather I find it quite convenient.

somehow I feel these complaints are motivated.

I will continue using and recomending global visas to my other friends and relatives.
  2009-03-27 by   Jon  0 Votes
My experience of Global Visas is that they take your money for the least effort possible. My skilled migration to Oz was passed from case-worker to case-worker due to very high staff turnover (a good indicator of a poor working environment). The information I received differed between these case workers and I have found them difficult to contact on the telephone. It has now turned out that the applciation which Global Visas have submitted on my behalf to the Australian authorities is lacking a requirement which was published by the authorities BEFORE my application was submitted. Having taken my fees up front Global visas are now saying they wish a further consultation fee to see me because as far as they are concerned the application has been submitted. So my experience is that they are an unprofessional mercenary organisation who I would recommend to no-body. I also have a good friend who was messed around when applying for a student visa extension. All this from the London office. Stay well clear is my advice.
  2009-04-03 by   Amit  0 Votes
Dont ever use global visas, Ive paid them the full fees, and am waiting for my application fees refund for the past 4 months. no signs from them. They took the application fees inspite of knowing that my application cannot be processed in UK. A horrible experience I had with them. No one ever answers the phone, and the case workers were changed quite often. Now, they have come up with a new interface where we cannot send mails or contact the case worker. Just send mails in the client section and no one ever answers. Just great. They are just big time swindlers
  2009-04-06 by   dannyray  0 Votes
Hi,

After reading through all the comments frm diff. ppl. i'm little sceptical bout the company...my money is stuck with global visas since 13th march when it was credited, after continous follow-up via email, i'm still waiting for the money to be refunded. this money was charged in a rush hour by one of the global visas consultant, later in couple of days he found that i'm not eligible for UK tier-1, eventually got me into a dilemma on the effectiveness and efficiency of this company! henceforth i was continually being pacified and told that you'll get back the money asap..suddenly when i called the delhi office today, someone picked and told that consultant i was dealing with is no more with the company and wanted to know what is the issue...then after getting my info..he said that best way to get ur money back is to login to the account in global visas website and send email on your concern. This is the only way as per that person. So again this shows the lack of guidance and support to the customers !!! why wasn't i not informed about this when i was following-up with the consultant for last 20 odd days !!?? Urge globalvisas management team to understand situations in customers' shoes...and above that the person i was speaking to today didn't show any kind of urgency and was very relaxed in his speech...hope is all i hv right now...
  2009-04-25 by   Globalvisas Fraud  0 Votes
I am also one of the persons effected by GlobalVisas attitude, they are very unprofessional in the way they handle the case. You are stuck if pay the initial amount, you are then completly stuck if you pay them the complete fees. After the complete payment the communication gap widens and they have I care a hang attitude. Mine was avery simple case which I could have filed on my on. Due to time constraint and other stress I thought of acquiring there services so that I could be rest assured that Professionals taking care of the case. Unfortunately I was wrong, Globalvisas is just a big name, My clear win win case was rejected by the HO & because globalvisas had put in wrong information.

Can you believe this that for tier 1 general (HSMP) I gave Globalvisas quite a few documents to refer & only few crucial and releveant documents had to be attached. With my application they attached the entire bunch of documents that I had given, which did not have to do anything with the case. The initial photocopies that I sent them even those were attached. This shows they didnt work on it, they just filled any thing in the form & sent the entire bunch to HO. No win No Fees is a sham. If any was is planning to sue Globalvisas, please contact me & I would likle to part of the litigation. My email is frenzybaby@gmail.com
  2009-05-23 by   boxergirl202  0 Votes
TO ALL THE PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE GLOBAL VISAS HERE : YOU ARE RIGHT, I HAVE BEEN THROUGH THIS PROCESS MYSELF, NO ONE ASNWERS THE PHONE, YOUR CASE WORKER IS NEVER AVAILABLE ON THE PHONE, THEY DONT WANT TO GIVE YOU A REFUND EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT ELLIGIBLE, EVEN IF YOU NEVER MET THEM THEY WANT TO CHARGE FULL CONSULTATION FEES FOR A PHONE CALL TO THEM, PLEASE CAN ALL OF YOU SEND ALL YOUR COMPLAINTS TO OISC.CO.UK, TO THE OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING AND TO ALL THE REGULATING BODIES THEY HAVE MENTIONED ON THEIR WEBSITE, WE HAVE TO COMPALIN TO THE REGULATING BODIES SO THEY CAN BE STRUCK OFF, OTHERWISE IF WE DONT GO THROUGH THE PROPER CHANNELS THEY WILL CONTINUE TO SCAM PEOPLE
  2009-05-23 by   boxergirl202  0 Votes
My experience with global visas was that they had a very pushy sales person on the phone whotold me i am elligible without checking any documents from me, he pushed me into signing a contract and took 150 pounds over the phone as a deposit making me false promises of sucess without checking any documnets from me, i terminated my contract 4 days after signing it and even if i never met them or provided any documentation they still sending me letters telling me i am elligible and i should pay them the fees for a consultation which never took place, as my case worker was impossble to contact on the phone to set a date for the consultation, do not use them, they take your money and then they are impossible to contact on the phone, they want to charge you 690 pounds for a phone call to tell yo0u just what documents you need to provide for your application.
this is a free info on the home office website

PLEASE EVERYONE GO WITH YOUR COMPLAINTS TO OISC.CO.UK, OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING, HOME OFFICE,

Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner
oisc.gov.uk

MARA
Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA).

Global Visas employs one Registered Migration Agent.

Migration Institute of Australia
The Migration Institute of Australia is the professional association for Australian Migration service providers worldwide working together for the benefit of Australia.

CONTACT SERIOUS FRAUD OFFICE

http://www.sfo.gov.uk/
44 (0)20 7239 7388
contact police

Contact Details
Telephone: 020 7601 2222 PO Box 36451 London EC2M 4WN email us
Stop & Search in the City of London
How to report fraud
Fraud Desk
Telephone: 020 7601 6999 (8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday)
Fax: 020 7601 6938
Email: frauddesk@cityoflondon.police.uk

IF EVERYONE SENDS THEIR COMPLAINT LETTERS the regulating bodies will have them struck off, is just important that you send your complaints and your stories

please folks send your complaints letters
  2009-07-11 by   Vishelp  0 Votes
Hi,

I spoke with one of the person from Global Visa Delhi.
Website : http://www.GlobalVisas.co.in

I need you suggestion what should i do?

I want to help for my H1B visa. They said 50000 INR they gonna charge.
They review all my documents & give me perfect guidance. I am looking for L1 visa consultant.
  2009-07-11 by   Vishelp  0 Votes
NEED SUGGESTION

Hi,

I spoke with one of the person from Global Visa Delhi.
Website : http://www.GlobalVisas.co.in

I need you suggestion what should i do?

I want to help for my H1B visa. They said 50000 INR they gonna charge.
They review all my documents & give me perfect guidance. I am looking for L1 visa consultant.
  2009-07-14 by   hilaryb  0 Votes
I am having a nightmare and feel trapped with Global visas as they have £1600 of mine- and after completing the full stage 1 of a canadian federal skills progamme, including paying the fees, I have been told ( by my 4th advisor who has been working there 1 day- the other 3 sacked as a result of incompetence and complaints by me) that I havent the right training for the NOC code I am applying to.

God give me strength all i need is an aswer to how I get my money out of them - no visa no fee!!! Any tips? HX
  2009-07-20 by   boxergirl202  0 Votes
you have to take them to the small claims court

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/index.htm


you can complain to oisc.gov.uk but their investigation takes 6 months and wont give you the money back, they will only thell you thats right, you were scammed by global visas but we dont get involved in recovering the money for people scammed by global visas
  2009-08-10 by   DanielCarig121  0 Votes
I thought Capital Visas was far better - excellent service and good price for my Tier 2. There are www.capitalvisas.com
  360 days ago by   Global Visas Customer Service  0 Votes
Dear Valued Clients,

If you feel we let down – We want to hear from you directly.

If we have let you down we apologise. It is never our intention to let down a single client. We have put together this response to address the comments made about us. On this site. Firstly, it is difficult to address specifics of a case as we want to avoid disclosing any private information about any individual which may cause them any embarrassment.

Dealing with any Immigration case can be a stressful time for a person. We know this from over 20 years experience and we also accept we are often in the firing line and have to break bad news to people if they do not qualify for a visa. Our team does offer our clients the best chance of success and we appreciate if you do not meet the required qualifications bad news is never nice to hear. If a person does feel let down by the legal system we aim to do our very best to explain everything as best we can.

We are only human and even though 98.4% of our clients would refer their family to us it is possible we make the odd mistake out of 30, 000 cases per year. We want to learn from such mistakes and improve our service to you. If we have done absolutely everything we can and you still feel let down by the laws or our company, then we want to hear from you directly. We may not be able to change the situation but at least we can explain why not.

We would like you to shared your feelings with us, as we work hard every day to achieve 100% client satisfaction.

If an individual feels disappointed by the Immigration laws or our actions, we want you to know we care. That is why in our Client Care Letter and on our website we list all the governing bodies we are registered with around the world to investigate all complaints if you do not wish to speak with us directly. They will assess the complaint independently, and if we have let a client down these governing bodies will address it and ensure we correct the situation. We are Registered with more governing bodies world wide than ANY OTHER Immigration company.

We receive over 4 million visitors to our website and complete over 30, 000 immigration cases each year. We send EVERY client a feedback form to let us know what they think of our service. These feedback forms are distributed once a month to our entire company. Currently 98.4% of clients say they WOULD use us again or refer us to their friends and family. The comments on those forms are on the Testimonials page of our website.

Due to our clients’ on going support we are the largest and fastest growing Visa company in the world.

We are registered with more quality assurance governing bodies world wide than any other Immigration company.

We win cases other can not.

We are great listeners and really do care about you very much. Take the time to come and see us and we can sit down and listen to everything that is on your mind. We have several quality checks in place and also some of the highest skilled and best qualified Immigration law experts in the world. With over 100 staff world wide we operate a strict refund policy as mentioned in our Client Care Letter.

We obviously cannot respond to any specific issues on this site but we do want to hear from you.

On the issue of payment. We make our fees clear to all clients before we do any work and we explain everything in our client care letter. Offer payment plans for people who can not pay our full fees in one payment and do our best to accommodate our clients but, we can not work for free. Taking our knowledge and expertise and expecting not to pay for our service is unacceptable and we are certain 99.9% of clients would agree. If we allowed a person to take our services without payment all our other clients would suffer as their fees would need to increase to pay for the tiny percentage of people who believe it is right to take without payment.

Thank you in advance for getting in touch if you have anything to say to us. We look forward to receiving your email at talk@globalvisas.com We have put up this special email address to make sure if you have anything to say you can come straight through to us.

If like what we do tell others, but if don’t tell us. We will do everything we can to meet your expectations.

Thanks,

Customer Services
  359 days ago by   boxergirl202  0 Votes
I am going to court at the moment to get my fees back, if i win i will use my testimony against them for anyone who wants to take them to court, this company doesnt want to help you, they want you to sign a contract, give them your credit card details and after that they dont do anything, they show the credit card company your contract to withdraw money and they do nothing, they ignore your calls and emails, complain to the oisc but they dont do anything, they only draw a report after 6 months but they dont take them to court or take your money back, you have to complain to the office of fair trading as they can take them to court .i have 5 witness testimonies for my court case, if you want to give me yours write me on this website, i will help anyone with advice

if you think is a scam report it also to office of fair trading( it will take them months to investigate and they want a reasonable number of complaints so keep on complaining)

If you think its a scam and want the OFT to investigate send it to:
Scambusters Team
Office of Fair Trading
Fleetbank House
2-6 Salisbury Square
London
EC4Y 8JX
enquiry@oft.gsi.gov.uk

also try

Serious Fraud Office

44 (0)20 7239 7388
or police Fraud Desk if youv are concerned about them misusing your credit card details
How to report fraud. Fraud Desk. Telephone: 020 7601 6999 (8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday) Fax: 020 7601 6938. Email: frauddesk@cityoflondon.police.uk
  358 days ago by   boxergirl202  0 Votes
HOW TO SUE GLOBAL VISAS


The name of this website, Moneyclaim Online, suggests a dodgy accident compensation service, like Claims Direct and all the other legal vultures who are pushing up our insurance premiums.

But Moneyclaim.gov.uk is actually a website produced by our own wonderful government. To be more specific this website is run by the Court Service of England and Wales, the people who do such a fine job of punishing all the baddies out there.

I stumbled upon Moneyclaim Online earlier this year when I was planning to sue Wilcon Homes over the faulty boiler in my house (that's a whole story in itself which you can read more about in my op about Wilcon Homes). I have sued a few people in the past; most notably NTL when they used to be called Cable & Wireless, and a dealer who sold me a car which I later found out was an accident write-off. I don't suffer fools (or crooks) gladly.

On both of these previous occasions I won my case, although I had found the system to be intimidating and rather bewildering for ordinary people (or the 'information underclass' as we are sometimes labelled - those of us who didn't go to public school and don't have dinner parties with friends in high places).

I am pleased to say, however, that the internet has changed the way in which ordinary folk can access justice. Or perhaps 'revolutionised' would be a better word. Although I have a very low opinion of Mr Blair and the New Labour machine, I feel that credit is due in one area. Several years ago Blair vowed that all government departments should be made more accessible to the public via the modern miracle of the worldwide web. This was one promise that Blair actually delivered - and the website I am reviewing is a good example of how Joe Public has been empowered with greater access to the "
system".

From what I can gather, Moneyclaim Online was only launched last year (2001). Before this time you had to go to your nearest county court in person and obtain forms and leaflets if you wanted to sue someone. From my experience these courts were far from user-friendly. They were designed for solicitors who knew the way things worked - information was sparse and the staff were unhelpful at the best of times. Anyone entering the court building without formal dress was treated in a sneering and condescending manner.

But all that has changed. Whether you're looking for recompense from a crooked builder, or trying to get someone to pay you back a debt, you can now launch a county court claim from the comfort of your own home. Taking legal action against somebody need not be as daunting or expensive as you may think. And you don't need to pay a solicitor in order to sue someone (although I would still recommend getting good legal advice if you're unsure about the chance of your claim succeeding). As every case will be unique, I can not give an exhaustive guide to suing, nor can I give a guarantee that you will win, but hopefully I can give you a clear idea of how to use Moneyclaim Online.

You have to pay a fee to use the service (the fees are identical to the conventional snail mail method of issuing a claim), but the fee will be relatively small in relation to the amount you are claiming for, and will have to be refunded by the defendant if your claim is successful. The court fees are on a sliding scale but work out very roughly at 10% of the amount you are claiming, eg. a claim for between £1000-£5000 will cost you £115. If your claim is below £5000, the court will automatically allocate the case to the 'small claims track' which is a basically a more informal way of dealing with it.

Crucially you are going to need evidence. In a county court, the rules of evidence are not as formal as in a criminal co
urt, so the judge is going to take a "common sense" look at the plausibility of the evidence presented by each party. Typical forms of evidence used in county courts are professional written reports, photographs and written statements from witnesses. You must be able to show that you gave the defendant a reasonable opportunity to settle the matter outside court. Keep a written log of every time you phoned or wrote to them. Send at least one letter to the defendant by Recorded Delivery (this will cost you 90p at any Post Office) in which you clearly outline the situation and set them a reasonable time in which to act, ideally 14 days. Clearly state that you are going to issue a County Court Claim against them unless they act within this time limit. Keep the Recorded Delivery receipt and a copy of the letter - these will form part of your evidence in court, in case the defendant denies that you gave them a fair chance to sort things out.

When you are ready to make your claim, log on to www.moneyclaim.gov.uk and register for a username and password. You then fill in a series of simple forms, providing information about yourself and the person you are suing. Finally you are asked to write the "Particulars of Claim" in less than 1080 characters, so keep it very concise and to the point. At this stage you only have to give an outline of the basic details of your claim, so limit it to a few sentences. You will have chance to go into more detail later on. The website then collects your payment of the court fee by credit or debit card. Once you're done, the claim will be posted off to the defendant at 10.00am the next working day. You will notice that your claim is issued by Northampton County Court who issue all online claims. The defendant will be given 14 days to respond. They may buy extra time for themselves by issuing an acknowledgement of service, which gives them a further 14 days to consider their options. If the defendant files a de
fence then you will have to pay an extra £80 for an "allocation questionnaire" which is basically the next step in the process (but it's free if your claim is below £1000). Again, this £80 will have to be refunded by the defendant if your claim is successful.

Whether you decide to settle outside court, or go to a hearing, is entirely up to you, but remember that you can drop the claim at any moment until the day of the hearing. If you are suing a company, and the case goes to a hearing, then you should make sure the case is heard at the court nearest to you. Private individuals are given this advantage when suing a registered company. You will need to ask the court to transfer the case to your nearest County Court - they will do this free of charge. To find out the address of your nearest County Court, visit www.courtservice.gov.uk/notices/county/ccadd/circu its.htm (this does not apply, however, if you are suing an individual person - the case will be automatically be heard at THEIR nearest courtroom).

If your claim is successful, either because you won the court hearing, or simply because the defendant entered no response to your claim, you can progress the case online by applying for a warrant of execution. Basically this means the court bailiffs pay a visit to your defendant to seize goods which they sell at auction in order to pay you what you are owed.

I found the website extremely easy to use. For any of you who are familiar with internet banking, the interface is a similar kind of thing: a status bar displays the current progress of your claim (ie. Claim Issued, Acknowledgement Filed, Judgement Issued, Warrant Issued, etc.). All the terminology on the website is written in plain English, rather than legalspeak, which I found pleasing. The website includes a user guide, and each stage in the process is accompanied by a 'Help' button which gives you a pop-up window containing a text based explanation. Moneyclaim
Online also has a helpdesk telephone number (charged at 0845 local rate) in case you get stuck at any point. I used the helpdesk on one occasion when I had a query and I found the staff to be prompt at answering the phone and extremely helpful.

As I mentioned earlier, I sued Wilcon Homes using Moneyclaim Online. I won the case by default because they did not enter a defence before the 14-day deadline, and I was able to complete the whole process through my computer without putting pen to paper. When my claim reached the stage at which I requested judgement, I was particularly impressed to see a feature on the site which enabled the claimant to add interest to the amount claimed. The website automatically calculates the interest at the current Bank of England rate. It was only about three pounds but I thought this was a great little touch which you would not get with the old paper-based system. Wilcon Homes paid me the full amount without a fight, which was slightly disappointing as I had been looking forward to pressing the 'Send Bailiffs' button!

I think this website is a breakthrough in the way ordinary people can access the legal system, which until now has been elitist, old-fashioned and arrogant. It's just a shame that nobody seems to know about the existence of this website - as far as I know it has not been advertised anywhere.

I hope this has been of some use to you. If you have any feedback on this opinion, or are aware of anything I have left out, please let me know.

By the way, the website points out that you are strictly forbidden to use the service if you have been sectioned under the Mental Health Act - take note deano!
  346 days ago by   boxergirl202  0 Votes
To people who dont know where to complain and they I have an idea: why dont you contact the daily mail news paper in the United Kingdom, they can run a story about the scam that Global Visas are running. So why dont you write your complaint to newspaper reporters, they would love a good story to investigate. For all the people who dont know where to send their complaint I have put together the email addresses of Daily Mail reporters, just send your complaints to the following email addresses( you can mention in your complaints that Global Visas has unfair terms in the contracts they offer to their clients, terms trapping their customers into paying full fees but Global Visas having no obligations at all in case of bad advice given – they call it expertise- or in case they would delay your visa or not return calls and emails):

so keep on complaining to:


s.reid@dailymail.co.uk, s.poulter@dailymail.co.uk, v.allen@dailymail.co.uk, e.andrews@dailymail.co.uk, d.martin@dailymail.co.uk, j.hope@dailymail.co.uk, d.derbyshire@dailymail.co.uk, r.massey@dailymail.co.uk, m.phillips@dailymail.co.uk, peter.mckay@dailymail.co.uk, d.wilkes@dailymail.co.uk, p.revoir@dailymail.co.uk, r.camber@dailymail.co.uk, t.cohen@dailymail.co.uk, f.macrae@dailymail.co.uk


Remember if you dont complain nothing will change so lets get this company investigated properly by the newspapers
  282 days ago by   Babaloo13  0 Votes
Just to have an idea of what happened this is the email I sent to my case manager in reply to what the email she sent to my husband (botom). Bare in mind that I first contacted Global Visas On 12 Nov 2008,

My case:
I lived in Malta and had to go back to Greece(where I got married) to get my marriage certificate stamped in the Brazilian Consulate, to be able to register my marriage in Brazil - nothing to do with the visa but I had informed my case manager about it.

My plans:
I would have documentation and bookings ready by 01 April 2009 so I could leave Malta on 07/04/2009 to Greece and arrive in Brazil on 14/04/2009, I would apply in Rio de Janeiro on the next day afternoon and then travel to Minas Gerais and spend time with my family while waiting for my visa to be issued.

Bare in mind that the 10, 11, 12 and 13 of April were holidays in UK so my case manager would be unavailable.

I did get my visa, but God (and my husband) knows how stressed I was when 30 mins before I left Greece, they sent me a questionaire for me to answer (questionaire that I was asking for them to send it to me for almost a month) -127 questions including dates and purpose of all my travelings- Im a marketing manager and had been repeatedly to over 12 countries at that time so you can imagine how long it took me...

Now what happened:

on the 14/04/09 not me, but my husband received this email only copied to me:

"From: xxxxxxxx@globalvisas.com
> To: xxxxxxxx@hotmail.com
> CC: xxxxxxxx@hotmail.com
> Subject: Online application
> Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:47:11 +0100
>
> Hello xxxx,
>
> I have completed the online application for xxxxxx.There are a few questions I didn't had information about so I am highlighting all on a word copy for yu to complete in the online application.
>
> Please check all the details thoroughly before submitting.
>
> Also, we just got to know that xxxxxx overstayed in the country two times. this adds a potential risk of refusal to your case.
> I would suggest you to speak to your caseworker Zhao tomorrow morning and then submit the application.
>
> Best regards"...

which I replied:

"I have just read your email (below) and you've got me really confused and worried now. I spoke with Jamie Holmes about my overstay periods at the time I first contacted him about retaining Global Visas, and again many times after that. Actually, in my first email to Global Visas I mentioned my overstays, the refusal of entry in London, and the refusal for my student visa. Jamie assured me many times that this would not make any difference in my case as I am now applying for a completely different type of visa. That is what reinforced my decision to contractGlobal Visas to help with my case. I would not have contracted Global Visas if I knew that I would be taking any risk because of my overstay periods anyway.

Please let me know the correct information as soon as possible as now it is impossible to turn back time and get this important piece of information before making the choice of wasting 800 pounds on Global Visas and before applying for my visa.

I am extremely disappointed with Global Visas services in general. Many times I called your office and was not able to speak with any person responsible for my case; I asked for the questionaire two weeks before applying for my visa and it was only sent to me after I left Malta, on the 09/04/2009. The next 2 week days were statutory holidays all around the world and I spent the 14/04 travelling to Brazil. I arrived in Brazil at 8pm on the 14th and had to spend the evening going through the application, completing the form you had completed from the answers I gave in the questionnaire and fixing some items (as I noticed that some of the answers that I had sent were changed by Global Visas - I can not say by whom). For example, on Question 130 - "Has your sponsor ever been married or in a long term relaitonship like marriage before?" I had sent to Global Visas the answer "Yes" and the application was showing "No". There were many other questions that had my answers changed by Global Visas staff.

Apart from providing me with a list of which documents I would have to submit at World Bridge (which I could find on World Bridge website anyway), Global Visas has only caused me lot of stress. To be completely honest, it was more stressful dealing with Global Visas than applying for the visa itself. I got different information from each person I spoke to, and when I asked for the questionaire on the same date I paid the orginal 800 pounds, they kept telling me "Don´t worry about the VAF4, we will do all that for you" yet Global Visas only sent me that at the last minute without any time for them to revise, or to give me any advice. I cannot count how many times I called Jamie just before I travelled on 06/04 and I was told firstly he was going to call me back, then when he eventually did contact me, he told me that someone else would call me within 1 hour. I spent the day waiting for this call and trying to call back and nothing happened.

In addition, my husband also went through the same stress trying to contact any case worker for my case. He called many tens of times trying to get someone either to answer his calls, call him back or contact me. He left many voice messages, getting increasingly frustrated each time. He explained clearly to your colleague Zao what he thought of the (lack of) service provided by Global Visas both to her and on her voice messages.

Once again, please urgently provide me with the correct information about my overstay periods and explain any potential risk to my application. I would also like the discepancy between what I was told by Jamie and by what is contained in your email (and verball expressed to my husband by Zhao).

Sincerely"

I only heard from Global Visas again about 2 months after I had received my visa and I was already living here in UK saying:

"Dear xxxxx,
>
> Your application for Marriage EC v2 is currently with the Home Office for consideration.
>
> Unfortunately, we have no control over the Home office processing times and are unable to provide any regular progress checks once your application is submitted.
>
> The Home Office can be contacted directly for progress updates on:
>
> Tier 1 & 2; ILR, Student and extensions, FLR, PSW: 0870 606 7766
> Nationality applications such as Naturalisation & EU applications: 0845 010 5200
>
> Global Visas will be contacting you as and when we receive a decision on your application.
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> Gloabl Visas Team"

I did not waste time replying to that.
  280 days ago by   boxergirl202  +1 Votes
In case you are wondering if or how other people got their refund, it is true, people got their money back by complaining!!!

read the article about where to complain at

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/global-visas-c259741.html


PEOPLE GOT THEIR MONEY BACK BY COMPLaINING TO THE NEWSPAPERS

PLEASE READ THE ARTICLE

http://www.people.co.uk/news/news/tm_method=full%26objectID=20987018%26siteID=93463-name_page.html


someone in this article got a refund by contacting the newspapers and asking them to investigate!!!

so please contact the people newspaper

www.people.co.uk
www.dailymail.co.uk
www.mirror.co.uk
www.dailystar.co.uk
www.notw.co.uk
www.thesun.co.uk
www.independent.co.uk
www.guardian.co.uk
www.express.co.uk/haveastory


http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_headline=victory-on-visa&method=full&objectid=20987018&siteid=93463-name_page.html

the person who wrote the article and investigated is
Eddie Fitzmaurice

For comments and questions about Mirror.co.uk email feedback@mirror.co.uk
Queries about competitions, reader offers or back issues email cservices@mgn.co.uk
To have your say about a story email mailbox@mirror.co.uk
To contact Site Editor Steve Anglesey email steve.anglesey@mgn.co.uk
Got some pictures for The People? Email pictures@people.co.uk or call 0207 293 3901
Got a story? Call the newsdesk on 0207 293 3201 or 3202, or email peoplenews@mgn.co.uk


so here are lots of email addresess for the newspapers


news@dailystar.co.uk, newsdesk@notw.co.uk,
news@standard.co.uk, city@cityam.com, watchdog@bbc.co.uk, news@sky.com,
s.reid@dailymail.co.uk, s.poulter@dailymail.co.uk, v.allen@dailymail.co.uk, e.andrews@dailymail.co.uk, d.martin@dailymail.co.uk, j.hope@dailymail.co.uk, d.derbyshire@dailymail.co.uk, r.massey@dailymail.co.uk, m.phillips@dailymail.co.uk, peter.mckay@dailymail.co.uk, d.wilkes@dailymail.co.uk, p.revoir@dailymail.co.uk, r.camber@dailymail.co.uk, t.cohen@dailymail.co.uk, f.macrae@dailymail.co.uk,
mirrornews@mirror.co.uk, news.london@ukmetro.co.uk, martin.wolf@ft.com, philip.stephens@ft.com, jonathan.guthrie@ft.com, letters.editor@ft.com, paul.taylor@ft.com, people@ft.com,
g.wilson@the-sun.co.uk, 6300@the-sun.co.uk, exclusive@the-sun.co.uk,
c.robertson@the-sun.co.uk, j.coles@the-sun.co.uk, l.haywood@the-sun.co.uk,
g.smart@the-sun.co.uk, t.newtondunn@the-sun.co.uk, steve.hawkes@the-sun.co.uk,
v.wheeler@the-sun.co.uk, j.pyatt@the-sun.co.uk, a.france@the-sun.co.uk, o.harvey@the-sun.co.uk, r.perrie@the-sun.co.uk, n.francis@the-sun.co.uk, e.cox@the-sun.co.uk,
g.patrick@the-sun.co.uk, m.philips@the-sun.co.uk, tvbiz@the-sun.co.uk, watchdog@bbc.co.uk, news@sky.com, katherine.lucas@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk, enquiries@oft.gsi.gov.uk, enquiry@cib.gsi.gov.uk, investigate@mirror.co.uk

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2008/12/trading-standards-scambusters.html


www.express.co.uk/haveastory
  272 days ago by   sahiba  -1 Votes
hi, my name is sahiba and i am a loyal customer of global visas and hence totally satisfied by their services. being a student i required a visa for london for my master course and i got it within the comitted period of time. therefore i totally disagree with all the above complaints .

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